What’s Next in Children’s Ministry?

My recent project for the Cory Center was What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry. While the team that developed this resource are still in conversation about how to further the use of the content and expand it, I’ve been wondering about a new project: what’s next in children’s ministry? My first port of call is the New Media Consortium’s “Horizon Report.”

If you’ve never heard of the Horizon Report, here’s a quick description from the K-12 edition: The Horizon Report series is the most visible outcome of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Project, an ongoing research effort established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. This volume, the 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition, examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education.

Here’s a summary of the technologies the Horizon Report sees becoming integrated into the teaching and learning process over the next five years:

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

• Cloud Computing

• Electronic Books

• Social Computing

• Social Media

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

• Educational Gaming

• Mobiles

• Open Content

• Virtual Worlds

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

• 3D Video

• Augmented Reality

• Personal Learning Environments

• Thin Screens and Flexible Interfaces

Now, the New Media Consortium released the Horizon Report and a K-12 Edition early this year. I think we need a Kidmin edition. We need a simple way for people in the field of children’s and family ministry to know what is on the horizon in terms of trends, both technological and spiritual. I think this is a critical resource – one that has not been researched or released! If you are interested, comment or contact me.